Get to Know the 500 Festival Interns for 2026!

As the 500 Festival continues Racing Through History, we’re excited to introduce the 2026 class of interns who will help bring this year’s celebrations to life. These 12 talented students will be contributing their skills, creativity, and passion to support our events throughout the Month of May.

From behind-the-scenes planning to community engagement, our interns will play a key role in honoring tradition while helping shape the future of the Festival. With their enthusiasm and dedication, they’re ready to make a lasting impact on Indianapolis.

During their time with us, interns gain an exclusive look at what it takes to produce one of the city’s most iconic months — all while building real-world experience in a professional environment.

Read below to get to know each of our 2026 interns and learn more about the students helping us race through history this May.

To learn more about the 500 Festival Intern Program, visit: 500Festival.com/Intern

Sarah Bambrick, Digital Marketing Intern 

College/University: Indiana University Indianapolis

Hometown: Newcastle, England 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? Through this internship with the 500 Festival, I hope to continue developing my confidence and my professional skillset in digital marketing. I am excited to gain more experience in content creation to master the art of storytelling, creating more impactful and memorable narratives, as well as developing a deeper understanding of digital strategy and analytics. 

Career/Future Goals: My future goal is to be a content creator or digital marketer for a professional sports team or collegiate sports organization. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? One skill I strive to develop is my strategic thinking and input towards content creation and marketing promotions. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? I am definitely most excited about the Mini-Marathon. I cannot wait to be involved in the behind the scenes and see everyone’s hard work pay off! 

Kyernan Bohley, Strategic Partnerships and Activations Intern

College/University: Indiana University

Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I am hoping to gain confidence in event sales and creating activations.   

Career/Future Goals: Working in partnerships marketing for a motorsports team 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? Creating lasting connections with partners and corporate members and learning how to best support them 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The Parade! I’ve been at every parade with the exception of COVID years and interning for an IndyCar team, so being able to bring it to life is extra special to me. 

Etta Haggart, Post Race Party / Breakfast at the Brickyard Intern

College/University: Central Michigan University 

Hometown: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I’m excited to learn more about how all our different teams work together to create meaningful community events. 

Career/Future Goals: Working in promotions or community engagement for the NFL. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? During this internship I hope to develop new, creative ideas for current and future events! 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The event I’m looking forward to the most is the Post Race Party because it’s a great way to celebrate not only the hard work of our participants, but also the hard work of our staff! 

Izzy Kudish, Indy Mini Expo and Kids’ Day Intern

College/University: Indiana University 

Hometown: Livingston, New Jersey 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I am hoping to gain a deeper understanding of large-scale community event production. I hope to grow professionally, strengthen my operational skills, and gain more hands-on experience planning and executing events. I’m excited to contribute to delivering memorable experiences for participants and the community.   

Career/Future Goals: My goal is to work in event management for sports events.   

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I want to develop my ability to build and manage vendor relationships. I want to learn more about managing logistics for events with a large number of vendors.    

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The 500 Festival event I’m most excited for is Kids’ Day! 

Brody Lamp, Event Logistics Intern

College/University: Grand View University 

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? Gain practical event logistics experience, stronger professional skills, and meaningful connections all while being part of an iconic Indianapolis tradition. 

Career/Future Goals: To build a career in large-scale event and sports operations by gaining hands-on logistics experience and growing into a leadership role within the event industry. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? One skill I hope to develop during this internship is problem-solving under pressure, particularly the ability to quickly adapt and make effective decisions in fast-paced event environments. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The event that I am looking forward to the most is the 500 Festival Parade because of the energy of the crowd and the excitement of seeing months of planning and logistics come to life in such a high-impact, community-driven event. 

Erin Lee, Graphic Design Intern

College/University: Washington University 

Hometown: San Anselmo, California  

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? Through this internship I hope to continue gaining experience working as a graphic designer and continue learning from the people around me. 

Career/Future Goals: I would love to continue doing in-house graphic design for a cool sports or entertainment company like the 500 Festival! 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I am most excited to continue growing my range of design skills and learn the process behind making everything from Parade signage to Memorial Service pins.   

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? I am most looking forward to the parade! Just going through the images of past parades and seeing some of the old floats in the warehouse, it looks like a great time and really highlights Indianapolis and its community.   

Lauren Littell, Volunteer Intern

College/University: Indiana University Indianapolis 

Hometown: Carmel, Indiana  

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I’m hoping to gain hands‑on experience working with an organization that brings the community together in such a meaningful way. The 500 Festival has a reputation for creating events that energize Indianapolis, and I want to learn how those events come to life, from planning and logistics to volunteer coordination and community engagement. I’m excited to build real‑world skills while contributing to something that has a positive impact on the city. 

Career/Future Goals: My future goal is to build a career in sales within a franchise organization. I’m especially interested in learning how franchises grow their customer base, maintain strong client relationships, and create consistent experiences across locations. The experience I gain through the 500 Festival will help me become more confident in outreach, relationship‑building, and understanding how large organizations operate behind the scenes. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I want to strengthen my project coordination and communication skills. Working with staff, volunteers, and community partners will help me learn how to stay organized, adapt quickly, and communicate clearly with a wide range of people. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? I’m most excited for the IU Health 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. It’s such a high‑energy event that brings together runners, volunteers, and the entire community in a really inspiring way. Being part of the team that helps support an event of that scale and seeing the impact it has on participants feels incredibly rewarding. 

Katie Lough, Parade, Princess Program, and Kickoff to May Intern

College/University: Ole Miss 

Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? As an Operations Intern with the 500 Festival, I’m excited to gain hands-on experience in the nonprofit world, an area I haven’t had the opportunity to explore before. I’m especially interested in learning the ins and outs of nonprofit operations and understanding how large-scale, community-centered events come together behind the scenes. The 500 Festival plays such a unique role in Indianapolis, and I’m eager to learn how meaningful traditions are planned, managed, and executed year after year. 

Career/Future Goals: I hope to build a career in professional sports operations or work on the operations side of a broadcasting company. I’m naturally drawn to behind-the-scenes work and find a lot of satisfaction in watching a project come to life from start to finish. Being part of the operational process, problem-solving, coordinating details, and contributing to the bigger picture is what excites me most. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? One skill I’m especially hoping to develop during this internship is cross-department communication. I want to learn how to collaborate effectively across multiple teams and help ensure communication is clear, efficient, and accessible, so everything runs as smoothly as possible. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? Most of all, I’m looking forward to experiencing the Parade for the first time. I’ve heard so much about it, and being able to see it in person while also playing a role in making it happen is something I’m truly excited about. 

Sam Naunas, Mini, Miler, Memorial Service Intern  

College/University: University of Cincinnati 

Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I am hoping to gain real world experience in operations and planning events of this size. 

Career/Future Goals: My goal is to keep building my career in sports and keep gaining hands on experience in the industry. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? One skill I hope to improve during this internship is problem solving under pressure in such a fast-paced role. There will be a lot going on at times, so it will be very important to keep calm and be able to make these decisions quickly. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? I am most looking forward to the Mini-Marathon because of how much work we will put into it. It will be great to see it all come together. 

Khanh Ngo, Customer Service and Ticketing Intern

College/University: Purdue University 

Hometown: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I’m hoping to gain hands-on exposure to event logistics, customer relations, and ticketing operations, especially within large-scale, high-impact events. 

Career/Future Goals: My long-term goal is to build a career in marketing, sales, or customer experience, ideally within the sports or entertainment industry. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I hope to further develop my ability to adapt and problem-solve in fast-paced, real-world environments. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The 500 Festival event I’m most looking forward to is the Parade, as I’m excited to see the behind-the-scenes operations and experience how the floats and event details come together on such a large scale. 

Danny Sheikh, Youth Program Intern

College/University: Saint Louis University 

Hometown: Evanston, Illinois 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I want to gain professional experience in event operations as well as learn the logistics involved in planning and executing large-scale events.   

Career/Future Goals: My goal is to work for a professional sports organization assisting in event management or community outreach.   

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I hope to develop my organizational skills by learning how to manage multiple tasks effectively in a professional setting. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? The Mini-Marathon and Rookie Run are the two events I am most excited about. 

Kamille Wilson, Communications Intern

College/University: Butler University

Hometown: Columbus, Indiana 

What are you hoping to gain from your internship with the 500 Festival? I hope to gain hands-on, real-world experience that helps me strengthen my professional skills and better understand what it takes to be successful in a fast-paced, large-scale event organization like the 500 Festival.   

Career/Future Goals: I hope to build a career in the sports industry, whether that’s working on-camera in sports media or pursuing opportunities in marketing and sports management. 

What is one skill you hope to develop or improve during this internship? I want to improve my response time in fast-paced environments by learning how to think quickly, stay calm, and find effective solutions when unexpected challenges arise. 

What 500 Festival event are you looking forward to most? I’m most excited to experience the 500 Festival Parade for the first time and see all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making it such a special event.